Smith: Time to Put Calderon in Starting Unit Again

Itís been four games, two wins and two losses, since he returned last week in Orlando and there is no question heís playing well.

He looks 100 per cent, is shooting 14-for-26 from the field with 20 assist in those four games, heís getting to the rim on offence easily, heís playing about 23 minutes a game and his defence, well, Iím not going to talk about his defence because itís not as bad as you think but you wonít believe me.

Now, I donít know if Jay shares this opinion, but I think the offence runs better with Calderon at the helm, heís better at pick and roll and Calderonís a better spot up shooter (no small fact when you consider the needs of Hedo Turkoglu to have the ball a bit more often.

With two days of practice and a shootaround before the Knicks game, I donít know that thereís going to be a better time to get him some work with the first unit, get Jarrett Jack back working with the Young Guns and make the switch.

Hmmm .... I kind of like having Jose with the 2nd unit. I mean, a couple bad games from Jack shouldn't mean a switch at the point just yet, but how do you justify paying someone $8/$9 million to come off the bench as a back-up? I guess it's inevitable.

What concerns me about this article is not that Doug Smith disagrees with me about whether Jose should stay on the bench or start (I do think he should come off the bench for a little while longer at least.)

No, what concerns me is that I feel like Doug Smith only says what the organization is thinking of doing anyways, and by going on board with the idea, the fans are kind of set up for it to happen. Maybe I am way off, but he is really not much more than an MLSE apologist most times.

I totally agree. Most times it seems like Doug Smith is onthe MLSE payroll. I know he knows his stuff & is around the team quiet a bit, but he seems to be in denial that the chemistry with Jack running the 1st unit is better then with Calderon there. Or at least thats my opinion.

Ya, I agree that it is inevitable, but I'd rather keep things the way they are. More specifically I'd keep Jose running the second unit and let Jack run with the starting lineup. We started playing well with Jack as a starter and although I don't think its necessarily a direct relation to Jose being out, it has had the most success so why not stick to it? And if Jose is thriving as the backup then why not stick to that too? As for who closes out games, I think it depends on who's having a better game or the matchups/situation. Just as long as Calderon and Jack are NOT on the floor at the same time. Its up to Jay to tell either one of them to suck it up and deal with it, which shouldn't be that difficult since both seem to be team-first guys.

I would rather aspects of time and substitute management be addressed first including the subject of Arsenalist's piece on JJ, JC & HT on the court at the same time before who should start at point. There are two other deficiencies imo that require attention as well....the inbounds play at endofgame pressure situations and exploring fast break opportunities with the quick first pass.
The suggested switch is a low priority item for the team in my view. ...unless something is brewing behind the scenes.

I would rather aspects of time and substitute management be addressed first including the subject of Arsenalist's piece on JJ, JC & HT on the court at the same time before who should start at point. There are two other deficiencies imo that require attention as well....the inbounds play at endofgame pressure situations and exploring fast break opportunities with the quick first pass.
The suggested switch is a low priority item for the team in my view. ...unless something is brewing behind the scenes.

Seriously. Someone needs to send that question in to BC at half time or something. I'm sick of inane questions like "What do you think of Turkoglu's pizza commercial?" when someone should be asking him about Triano's PG PG Pizza lineup.

He should have already been in the starting line up. Smith is just being realistic here. I can see how you guys could take that hes all down with MLSE and obviously hes going to be to some degree. But really Jose should be starting and Jack should be nailed to the bench in the end of the fourth.

Ya, I agree that it is inevitable, but I'd rather keep things the way they are. More specifically I'd keep Jose running the second unit and let Jack run with the starting lineup. We started playing well with Jack as a starter and although I don't think its necessarily a direct relation to Jose being out, it has had the most success so why not stick to it? And if Jose is thriving as the backup then why not stick to that too? As for who closes out games, I think it depends on who's having a better game or the matchups/situation. Just as long as Calderon and Jack are NOT on the floor at the same time. Its up to Jay to tell either one of them to suck it up and deal with it, which shouldn't be that difficult since both seem to be team-first guys.

Nice post tmk. You got it bang on imo. Hopefully Triano keeps the rotations as is. He just needs to figure out who he wants to end games with-Caldy or Jack. Again, it should come down to matchups and/or who is having the better game. Having two starting quality PG's should be a luxury not a curse.